Sharpologist

What Your Father Didn't Teach You About Shaving (And Grooming!)

The Twig Razor

The folks who brought you the Leaf razor, that uses snapped-in-half DE blades on a pivoting head, have just announced a crowdfunding campaign for their newest razor, the Twig:

"The Twig takes the premise of a classic safety razor and makes it accessible for regular people like you and me. With fewer features and a simpler mechanism than The Leaf razor, we're able to welcome people into shaving plastic-free at a more accessible price. It stands wonderfully on it's own -or- as a companion to The Leaf for the ultimate shave experience.

"We designed The Twig from the ground up to be the easiest-to-use, most precise and maneuverable fixed-head shave."

Full disclosure: I was one of the testers for the prototype design of this razor, so I've actually seen what they're up to...and it's really interesting.

The Twig uses an innovative blade-loading mechanism that I think makes swapping out a half DE blade a lot easier than other razors that use a half DE blade. And the head is really small and can get into tight spots (like under the nose) a lot easier.

The crowdfunding campaign is off to a great start and I wish the Leaf folks all the best!

Click/Tap here to visit the campaign.

Weight Loss And Shaving?

Last week I got an email from Brian:

A few years ago you looked much chubbier in the face, so you must have lost some weight, and I thought you might have a view:

"I have just lost (by design) 2.5 stone - 35lb - 16kg.

"I find my shaving preferences have changed. For a few years I have used the aggressive R41-Feather combination but have recently been finding it rather too harsh.

"For the past week I have returned to a Merkur Barbour Pole Slant with Feather and have for some weeks been using my Slim Adjustable opened right up with Yellow 7 o'clock or Gillette Silver Blues.

"My face is a good bit thinner - maybe the lack of under skin padding has changed things!

"Have you ever written on this issue, or would you be prepared to?"

I have not written about the issue but it's a great idea and I would like to ask for this group's help.

As Brian mentioned, I lost some unneeded and unwanted weight a few years ago (~30 pounds). And, like Brian, I noticed my preferences for razor and blade changed: I used to like fairly mild razors but after the weight loss I gravitated to even milder razors!

I never thought that it might be a common thing until I read Brian's email.

So my question to you is, if you have lost a significant amount of weight (more than, say, 25 pounds), did the character of your shave change?

Hit me up with a reply if you can contribute your opinion. If there is enough response I'll write it up for a future Sharpologist article!

Murphy & McNeil Shave Soaps

Murphy & McNeil is a well-though-of shave soap artisan among wet shaving enthusiasts and have two different soap bases. I tried some shave soaps from their “Aon” and “Kodiak” bases.

Click here to read more.

And don't forget about Sharpologist's cornerstone content:

• Best Razors For Beginners
• Best Double Edge (DE) Razors
• Best Shave Brushes
• Best Shave Soaps
• Best Shave Creams
• Best Aftershaves